They sound perfectly disgusting. Horrible yoof jargon is spoken, and horrible christian bullshit is pushed on the gullible young people whose brains have not fully developed yet.

…the evangelical tactics used at such camps are on occasions manipulative. Sermons at such camps often take the form of wild orations that aim to wear down the resistance of the audience to the message. Videos designed to whip up the emotional temperature of the audience are shown, and fervid calls for youngsters to accept Christ are made. This culminates in the centre point of such meetings: the altar call. After having their emotions softened, hypnotic music typically sounds out in subdued lighting as youngsters are urged to come to the front and give their lives to Christ.

And then Bacchus appears and they all go mad and beat each other to death.

Whatever the attempts to dress them in the garb of youth culture, many of Christianity’s most controversial doctrines are given a full airing at the camps. Youngsters are threatened with divine judgment, and they are initiated into the world of charismatic Christian practices. At Soul Survivor, the largest Christian youth festival in the UK, teens have been told that witch doctors can maim children by cursing them. They have also been informed that God judges us on death for our deeds and thoughts, and they have been encouraged to practise physical healings. Could the real “wicked” in Christian teen camps actually be their effects on teens’ emotional wellbeing?

Reminds me a bit of attending a Mormon “Youth Conference” when I was 16. The Mormons pretty much wrote the book on how to combine youth culture with indoctrination.

Of course, my home environment made a difference. The friend who invited me to the event was from a Mormon family. She’d already absorbed the indoctrination so thoroughly she saw nothing untoward in the seminars we attended. But my family was quite secular – so the weekend had precisely the opposite effect on me. I was gobsmacked by a lot of what I saw/heard… after I returned home, I hit the library in an attempt to figure these people out. I went in to the conference with a relatively neutral attitude – having been to a few dances, I believed my friend when she chirped “It’s fun to be a Mormon!” I came out with a firm “No. Way. In. Hell.” stance.

So, I could see some kids attending, and perhaps being initially enthused, but then coming back to normal – assuming that they weren’t from fundamentalist/evangelical families to begin with. If my own kids are anything to go by, the preaching and attempts to “gang save” them would pretty much bounce off.

Tthis isn’t even the worst part. Every few years at Soul Survivor they hold the Tri Nity tourment, in which three youths are pitted against dangerous animals in obstacle courses to win a plastic “Holy Grail”. Contestants are expected to call upon the Father, the Son (the Boy Who Lives), and the Holy Ghost in order to prevail. Contestants have been known to die, at least when the prayer healings don’t work.

Hang on. I’ve been informed that the above is not true. I’ve confused this place with another camp for British children where feel-good magical nonsense actually works. The difference being that at Hogwarts, they distinguish between fact and fiction.

I can attest to the power of these events, having been involved with a Baptist youth group back in the day (and me a nice Catholic boy too! heh)

We would occasionally be taken to things like this, replete with the “altar call”. I eventually came to see it as the bullshit it was – pastors would boast about how many they got to their call and sometimes you could see them sweating on it, trying to drum up more from the audience.

At one low point, I actually succumbed to one and was lead out back for a team of pastors to “pray for me”. It was totally bizarre and it is psychological abuse, pure and simple.

I would say that there was a lot of compatibility between gang culture (or organized crime) and church institutions. Unsurprising then, that countries that are highly Catholic also seem to have a great deal of organized crime.

I used to go to Soul Survivor, way back, and I have to say that it was, well – fun. That was probably a consequence of being 14 and camping with a group of friends, though. My clearest memory of the actual sermons is the leading pastor illustrating the dangers of sexual experimentation with a surreal parable about licking the cream from a cake he’d bought for someone. I’ve no idea if he realised how obscene it sounded.

It was, by the way, extremely manipulative inasmuch as, while it wasn’t the organisation’s official policy, our rather stern “youth leader” forced us to endure the meetings. That was wholly counterproductive, though, because she’d forgotten that if something is imposed on a teenager they’re inclined to resist it rather than accept it. Of the guys I went with, none of us are still religious.

I will say – though perhaps my judgement’s coloured by nostalgia – that the organisers weren’t cynically tampering with young minds. I doubt it ever struck them that what seemed to be quite natural expressions of worship (and, indeed, are quite conventional features of evangelical services) were so emotionally manipulative. They held as powerful sway over the pastors, I’m’a gunna guess, as over the attendees.

I’ve been to many a youth camp. They were quite fun, insomuch as they were camps, but yeah, emotionally manipulative at all times. There was pressure from the organizers and speakers, but also peer pressure of everyone joining in.

In fact, they’re well aware of how emotionally charged the environment is – the last day of youth camp, the sermons are almost always a variation of how to keep all of the commitments you’ve made during camp after the “high” of camp has worn off.

I went to a Catholic camp where a leader told us of an amazing experience. At a low ebb in his faith he tempted god. If you are real make that horse nod at me three times, he demanded.

And Lo! The horse trotted over and nodded three times. Life changing for the chap, for obvious reasons.

Only thing is when a friend (who also attended the camp) bumped into him at uni two years later he (the youth leader) couldn’t recall the horse incident.

Seems no lie and no emotional manipulation is too low for these folks.

I was a believer at the time. I was offended by the story. You’re not meant to demand proof from god. That’s naughty when you’re supposed to have faith. I don’t know what he hoped to achieve. Lies, manipulation and exposure to ideas contrary to the faith.

I went to Lutheran camp in the early 80’s, as well as 4-H camp. The biggest difference was the amount of singing. There was a devotion every day and prayers before meals at Camp Luther (yes, really), but most activities were non-Jesusy, like learning to sail, giant soccer games, swimming, hiking, etc. I wonder what it’s like now?

@Neil: I don’t think the “C” in YMCA has any significance any more (at least here in Canada). Until they closed for renovations, the local Centre for Inquiry branch held a number of our events in meeting rooms at the “Y”.

I went to a YMCA camp for years, and there was some religion, but it wasn’t pervasive. There wasn’t ever any moralizing, but we said grace (albeit goofily) and there was a quasi-religious ceremony on the last day after which they projected a big ol’ Jesus on the side of the main building.